Within the meeting of political representatives Nina Shtanski and Yevgeny Karpov special attention was paid to the issuance of phytosanitary certificates by the RM to the Pridnestrovian enterprises required for the transit of Pridnestrovian agricultural products to Russia through the territory of Moldova and Ukraine.
As the PMR's MFA reported earlier, Service of phytosanitary protection of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry of the RM ceased to issue the mentioned documents on basis of time restrictions, which were introduced by the RF in relation to products from the RM.
Nina Shtanski called the argumentation of the Moldavian side untenable. According to her, the Moldovan side loosely interprets the provisions of its own legislation, unreasonably trying to assign to the certificate, confirming compliance of products with the phytosanitary requirements, the functions of a permit document.
"Now they are trying to convince us that as if it is not a certificate of compliance, which is a kind of a permit, and it shall be issued only if the farmer will be able to confirm exactly how and where he will export their products. We tried to explain to the Moldovan colleagues that the quality of, for example, plums, and its content do not change depending on whether it is exported to Moscow or Brussels. It is still the same plum and meets all the same standards. We have the impression that the Moldovan side uses the factor of non-issuing of phytosanitary certificates to our farmers as an instrument of blackmail and pressure,"- said Nina Shtanski.
The Pridnestrovian diplomat noted that, from the point of view of the Moldovan legislation a “phytosanitary certificate - a document that must determine only one thing: for example, the plum grown in Pridnestrovie, is the plum; whether this product meets phytosanitary requirements and regulations of the Republic of Moldova and whether or not it is a subject to phytosanitary quarantine”. “The phytosanitary certificate has no other purposes, and this is stated in the law of the Republic of Moldova”, - she said.
Nina Shtanski called the approach chosen by the Moldovan side confrontational. “Today Moldovan farmers cannot export their products to the Russian Federation. This is due to several reasons, which, in my opinion, should be exclusively subject of the dialogue between Moldova and the Russian Federation. Pridnestrovian farmers, it means, are the hostages in such a situation”, - the Foreign Minister of Pridnestrovie noted with regret.
“Unfortunately, in our opinion, the Moldovan side was not ready for a constructive dialogue, and to date we have no choice but to inform the wide public. Of course, we will try to find a solution of this issue, especially in contact with the Russian Federation”, - concluded Nina Shtanski.
